Shades of Colour
by EmeraldSnakes
Summary: 'Lorne Fest: Lorne/Sheppard - Sheppard's kid has a new art teacher Lorne.' AU fic


**Title:** Shades of Colour  
**Author:** EmeraldSnakes  
**Fandom:** SGA  
**Characters:** Evan/John(pre-slash), Cadman  
**Word Count:** 1,533  
**Rating:** T  
**Note:** Written for the Summer of Lorne Fest at slashing_lorne on LiveJournal  
**Prompt:** 'Lorne Fest: Lorne/Sheppard - Sheppard's kid has a new art teacher Lorne.'

**Note:** There will eventually be a sequel.

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with the Stargate Franchise

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . **

"Evan, you look fine."

Evan glanced at his new colleague but long time friend and scowled, "A minute ago you said I didn't."

"A minute ago your hair wasn't lying flat and pristine on your head," Laura had a manic grin on her face. "Now you can go and impress the donors."

That's exactly what Evan I_didn't/i_ want to do even though it was a necessary evil of his acceptance. Atlantis Prep was the leading private school in the world. Students were hand picked out of hundreds of applicants from all over the world and graduates were guaranteed to be accepted to any post-secondary institution of their choosing.

As one of three newly appointed teachers Evan had to go through a meet and greet with the parents. It was more like he was being shown off, according to Laura and he didn't care if half the mothers just wanted to see how hot he was, these things made him nervous.

"Come on," Laura got up and started dragging him to the gateroom. It was the central room of the complex where all the meetings and gatherings were held. It had a domed room and all the entrances were arches. "You won't impress anyone if you're late."

The gateroom was filled with people, teachers and parents alike. His artwork lined the walls, sketches and paintings he picked out specifically for this event.

"Mr. Lorne, Dr. Cadman, I'm glad you could join us." The Principal of Atlantis, Elizabeth Weir, greeted them as soon as they entered.

"It's our pleasure Liz," Laura answered.

Weir chuckled, "Please do not cause any trouble this time Laura. The students may share your enthusiasm for explosives but the parents do not. Excuse me, it looks like I have to go and rescue Steven."

Evan tracked her path and saw that she was talking about Vice Principal Steven Caldwell, an older man whose presence screamed former military. He was talking to an angry man in a pretentious white suit.

"Marrick," Laura growled. "He's such an asshole. Elizabeth would have kicked him out long ago but he's on the Board of Governors. "

Evan nodded mutely and averted his eyes. There were some things he just couldn't talk to Laura about.

"Ooh, look over there standing by the city landscape. See that couple?"

The couple Laura was referring to were wearing similar coloured attire and holding punch glasses. The woman had long curly blond hair, expressive blue eyes and an animated hand waving talk. The man looked uncomfortable in his suit and Evan figured he was here only because of his wife.

"That's Caleb and Jeannie Miller. Their daughter Madison seems to be leaning towards bio chemistry but she's not too bad with a paint set either. Jeannie is also one of our physics teachers."

Evan nodded. He figured some of the teachers were also parents and it was good to know who was who. Laura continued to point out important faces. Jack and Samantha O'Neill were by the food table. Sam, as she liked to be called, was socializing and Jack was hiding behind the food trying to avoid most of the people with another man wearing glasses. He was Daniel Jackson and he taught almost any language the students wanted to learn. He and his wife Shau'ri had two toddlers whom Laura guessed would eventually attend Atlantis.

Major General George Hammond was an older balding man whose oldest granddaughter would be starting in the upcoming term. He was also in charge of the Military's funding of the school as about 25% of the students would one day take at least one Military contract.

Weir had gravitated over to Richard Woosley, CEO of Pegasus Enterprises.

"Pegasus is our biggest supporter, granting us about half a million every year," Laura told him.

"For what?" Evan asked shocked.

"Computers and software. Keeping up to date means having the best technology there is. You know that Ev."

Evan did know that and it was part of why he hated private schools. They had everything because they were given it while public schools, especially the smaller ones had to struggle to give their students what they could. He almost didn't accept this job, but he'd known what kind of trouble that would cause and he didn't want to bring that down on him. He couldn't afford the consequences.

After a while he split from Laura and milled about on his own. He talked about his work, he was asked by some about his qualifications and even answered a few personal questions. He began to see the point of all of this. These parents weren't just rich and famous and looking for a good social party, they were genuinely interested in their children's education. This damn thing was turning out to not be so bad.

"Evan!"

Evan cringed. Laura could imitate her explosives so well.

He turned around to see her leading another man towards him, her arms wrapped around his left as if she was afraid he'd escape.

"Ev, this is John Sheppard."

Evan didn't know how to reply to that. The man was gorgeous with his wild black hair, ice blue eyes and relaxed posture. He wore a suit but his coat was opened, he had no tie and his collar was unbuttoned a ways, exposing faint wisps of curly hair.

"Hey," John smiled, Evan's stomach fluttered wildly and they shook hands.

"John teaches Math part time," Laura explained.

Evan frowned, "I thought all positions were full time."

"I do a lot of consulting for the various government agencies," John drawled like it was no big deal. "They weren't all that happy about losing me so I made everyone compromise."

Evan knew a subject to avoid when he saw one and that was definitely one of them. He could only guess how compromising the agencies really were.

He blinked. Laura was looking at him as if she expected him to say something. He didn't know what, he'd only ever been good at Geometry and that was child's play compared to what John could probably do. He gave her a shrug.

"You two know each other pretty well, don't you?" John asked, looking between them amused.

"She somehow swung it so that he was always living next door to me in university," Evan told him, rolling his eyes. "I could never get rid of her after that."

Laura laughed, "Don't listen to him John, he lies. I only stalked him a little."

John chuckled low and a little darkly and it made Evan's skin tingle. Silence fell and Laura started looking at them as she had before.

Evan sighed, "What?"

Laura threw up her arms, "Men! You're all idiots. John, just ask him."

John was a deer in headlights, "What?"

"You've been staring at Evan's work I_all/i_ night as if it were the biggest math problem in the universe. Why don't you save yourself the head trauma?"

Evan was use to Laura treating him as if his brain was damaged but not when it came to other people. She'd never been like that before and it left an unsettling feeling in him.

John blushed. "I guess you're right about that."

He turned to Evan, "You're work reminds me of a few really rare pieces of art by a man only known as Viorel. The last time one was released Keras went spastic."

"Keras?"

"My son." Evan's stomach dropped. "You'll probably see him the most out of all your students. He's very passionate about art."

There was pride in the way John smiled and Evan took a look around at his paintings, "What's his favourite Viorel piece?"

Laura had a glint in her eye which Evan pointedly ignored.

John let out a harsh puff of breath, "That's a tough one. If you let him he could go on and on about every piece but…I'd have to say this latest one, Wraith, really captivated him in a way the others didn't. Personally I like The Lost City the best."

Evan nodded. Most people like The Lost City the best but that just meant that they didn't really get the later pieces. He wondered if Keras was seeing what everyone else wasn't; if he was seeing what he wanted them to see.

"Ever thought of getting one?" Laura asked.

John snorted, "I'd have to sell my plane to do that, and then some. As much as I I_like/i_ Viorel's work, I'll let Keras make that kind of investment.

"I like your work Evan," he added, smiling. "You should do a gallery."

Evan blushed, "Thank you."

They continued to chat throughout the rest of the evening and Evan's stomach returned to its fluttering dance. For John's intelligence he was very down to earth and they found that they had quite a bit in common. By the end he knew he'd made at least one good friend.

He could almost have called the night perfect. The parents liked him, his colleagues all seemed like good people and he survived intact. There was just one hitch: a pair of eyes staring a hole of building anger into the back of his head. His night wasn't over, and it wasn't ending well.

**. . . . . . . . . **

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